HomePosts tagged 'spec'
Start putting those wishlists together!
November 9, 2018 Maximum Z blog, books, comedy, consultant, crowdfunding, filmmakers, holidays, horror, networking, notes, screenplay, screenwriting, script, spec, writing	books, comedy, consultant, crowdfunding, holidays, horror, networking, notes, screenplays, screenwriting, script, spec, writing
The crowds are already forming, eager to get their mitts on some of the quality merchandise to be offered.
Busy times around Maximum Z HQ (including some details listed below), so another shorty today, but first:
Big announcement time!
Two weeks from today, the 2018 Maximum Z Screenwriter's Gift Guide will go up. It'll feature holiday deals on script consulting services (from many of the consultants profiled on these very pages), books about screenwriting written by screenwriters, along with books written by screenwriters, but aren't about screenwriting, as well as all kinds of other fun stuff that any screenwriter would enjoy receiving.
If you have a product or service like these that you'd like to be included, or if you're a filmmaker with a crowdfunding effort for your latest project, and you'd like more people to know about it, don't hesitate to drop me a line. (Email's on the About Me page)
Cutoff date is Tuesday 20 November, so don't wait until the last minute!
Now about those aforementioned busy times…
-Slow but steady progress on the horror-comedy spec. So far, my outline-to-page ratio is a bit off – page count exceeding outline expectations – which means I'll some major editing (i.e. cutting) to do once it's complete. But I'm having fun writing it, which is really what it comes down to anyway.
-Also have a little touch-up work to do on the sci-fi spec, with the help of some recently-received great notes.
-Been busy with the occasional reading and giving-of-notes. Have I mentioned how great it is to know so many talented writers? Yes indeed.
-Speaking of crowdfunding, filmmaker Ben Eckstein is looking for more backers for his current project WINNING. They're a portion of the way there, but every little bit helps. Donate if you can!
Stuffed just a tad beyond capacity
July 3, 2018 July 6, 2018 Maximum Z comedy, development, dialogue, editing, horror, Marx Brothers, pages, plot, plot points, rewrite, scenes, screenplay, screenwriting, script, spec, story, structure, writing, writing process	comedy, development, dialogue, horror, plot, rewrite, screenplays, screenwriting, scripts, spec, story, storytelling, writing process
All my script needs now is the line "…and a dozen hard boiled eggs."
As the dog days of summer lazily drift on by, each of those days sees me dedicating a portion of it to working on the next small section of the horror-comedy outline. So far – it's coming along nicely.
For now, it's just filling in the blanks between primary plot points. Not counting those, I tend to think and plot things out in a linear manner; going from A to B to C and so on, rather than A to B to J, and then maybe filling in that stretch between D and F. This approach helps with not only crafting the developments of the main storyline, but also the subplots and figuring out how all the interconnections work. Others may do it differently, which is fine. This way works for me.
What originally starts out as one to two sentences summarizing what happens in a scene quickly becomes lengthy descriptions, including specific character actions and snippets of dialogue. This has caused the outline to appear dense and bulky, or at least that's how it looks at first glance.
At first this would appear to be a bad thing, but keep in mind that this is only the outline, so a scene write-up that appears as an impenetrable block of text here might translate to, say, half to three-quarters of a page, including dialogue. Not a bad exchange rate.
Just as an example, as a scene was playing out, it kept getting longer and longer, which would have run way too long for both script and screen. Realizing that simply would not do, I made some minor modifications and managed to break this exceptionally large scene into three slightly smaller ones. Each one still retains the point I wanted to make, as well as continuing to advance the plot, theme, and characters. A win all around.
The way I figure it, it's a lot better to have an overabundance of material during this stage, and then be able to cut, trim, or maybe even add more where necessary down the road.
Another key part to all this development is making sure everything I come up with plays some kind of role in the overall context of the story. Call it the "keep only if relevant" rule. If there's something on the page that has nothing to do with the story or the characters, then why have it there in the first place?
Equal time for B, C, D, and the rest
April 27, 2018 Maximum Z characters, development, dramedy, feedback, film, genre, ideas, notes, originality, scenes, screenplay, screenwriting, script, sequence, spec, story, storytelling, structure, subplot, theme, writing	characters, development, dramedy, ideas, originality, scenes, screenplays, screenwriting, script, spec, story, storytelling, subplot, writing
Each one doing its job as part of something solid and sturdy
Got a key set of notes back on the dramedy spec, so from this point forward, it's all about working with those and making the appropriate fixes. (Fortunately, not as many as I expected, but still lots of tweaking in store.) A future post will cover the gist of the advice I was given.
Up until those notes came in, I'd been dividing my time developing the stories of the two new scripts. One of them was revamping an old story, whereas the other was entirely new, so it was really building from the ground up.
Quick sidenote – I hadn't realized how long it had been since I'd plotted out a brand spankin' new story. Quite a while. It felt thrilling and a bit intimidating to take it on, but both sensations were heartily welcomed.
While I knew what the main storyline was, the more I worked on filling in the blanks between plot points, the more it became obvious I'd need to start developing the subplots, especially the ones among the core group of characters.
This new story is unlike anything I'd written before, so as part of putting it together, I watched a couple of films of a very similar nature to get a better idea of how things could go. I soon had a stronger sense of what worked and what didn't from an overall perspective, but also paid close attention to each character's story – especially the main protagonist, how it connected to the supporting roles, and how all of them factored into the main storyline.
Doing this really helped in several ways:
-the films made it easier to see how each subplot was a part of the main story, as well as being its own separate (and unique) entity.
-each subplot provided lots of opportunities to show character growth and development, again contributing to the main story, as well as emphasizing the theme as it applied to each of the characters.
-because these stories are set in a specific kind of genre, there are certain elements that are more or less required (or "expected" might be a better term). As a result, the subplots provide an almost limitless number of chances to really let the imagination run wild and go for something totally unexpected, as it applies to those elements, but still have it fall within the realm of "this is the type of thing that would happen in this type of film."
It's a lot to take into account, but I suspect the more I plan things out, the easier it'll be to arrange things so all the pieces fall into their proper places.
So for now it's all about the dramedy, but I know that when I eventually return to working on these two stories (which I definitely will), I'll have a stronger sense of not only what should happen for the main storyline, but also all the scenes, sequences, and developments of the subplots that go along with it.
Just getting here is a story by itself
March 30, 2018 April 4, 2018 Maximum Z ambition, budget, comedy, determination, development, draft, dramedy, goals, high concept, horror, ideas, inspiration, notes, pulp fiction, rewrite, scenes, science fiction, screenplay, screenwriting, script, spec, story, westerns, writing	ambition, budget, development, ideas, screenplays, screenwriting, script, spec, story, writing
Even better, the journey won't cost you a cent
First, the good news: I wrapped up the rewrite/overhaul of the comedy spec (which seems more like a dramedy now.) Despite my dread and anxiety over whether or not it's actually funny, it's been sent out for notes. As I mentioned to one of my readers, as long as nobody says "What made you think you could write something funny?", I'm good.
So, industrious scribe that I am, I find the best way to occupy my time while I wait to hear about a project is to redirect my focus and work on another one.
It was originally going to be a new take on the pulp sci-fi, but some story issues still need work, so that remains on hold.
But a few weeks ago, I was cleaning up around my office and found a hard copy of one of my earliest scripts: a horror-western. I don't think I'd seen it or read it in about 15 years.
Wow, was it bad. Like "This first draft is going to sell for a million in no time!" bad.
But the idea behind it still worked, and was something I could definitely tweak and finesse into something a lot more coherent. I did mention how that old script was really bad, right?
So I started putting together ideas for the new draft. Let's call this SCRIPT #1, or S1 to keep things simple.
Then another twist presented itself: a script with a low budget (the lower the better), a minimal number of characters and locations, and practically no visual effects has a much better shot of being produced than some mega-budget tentpole effects extravaganza.
With that in mind, there were aspects to this story I could use to create an entirely new and different one that met a lot of those criteria, so I jotted down some potential plot points in the same file. This is SCRIPT #2 (S2).
One file, two scripts. With me so far? It gets better.
After finishing the comedy, I decided I'd take on S1. I only had a vague recollection of all the story details, which I saw as a good thing. Although I'd still have the old draft available as a potential (albeit limited) resource, I don't think I'll use it all that much. This in turn, frees me up to go in whatever new direction I feel like.
As I thought up ideas for S1, some of the story elements from S2 started creeping in. Since I didn't want the two to be too similar, more focus was put on developing S1. It's still a work in progress, but coming along quite nicely. And so much better than that old draft.
Ah, but what of S2? Like I mentioned, there were story elements I really liked, and putting some of them into S1 forced me to come up with new ideas for it. There was one in particular that really stood out for me, and the more I thought about it, the more it felt like it would be able to be the basis for a solid story.
I combined that idea with the aforementioned low-budget approach and came up with what I really think is a great high-concept idea. Such to the point that I whipped up a logline for it, along with a title that feels very "that's perfect!"
My belief and enthusiasm for both S1 and S2 is to the point that I'm now alternating between both; working on one, then the other. My objective now is to have at least a first draft done for both by the end of the calendar year. It's already proven to be, and will no doubt continue to be, a most interesting process.
I'll keep you posted.
Shifting from writer to editor
February 23, 2018 Maximum Z comedy, determination, dialogue, editing, output, pages, perseverance, persistence, polish, rewriting, screenplay, screenwriting, script, spec, story, storytelling, writing	comedy, editing, rewriting, screenplays, screenwriting, script, spec, writing
"Hey, this isn't as unsalvageable as I thought."
Most of this month has been all about working through the latest draft of a comedy spec. Averaging about 4-6 pages a day, so making some good progress, and hoping to wrap it all up by the first week of March.
Then, the cycle repeats itself with the next round of editing, rewriting, and polishing.
So as I focus on that, here are some older posts about the whole illustrious process, along with a few other related issues.
Fine-tuning in progress
I have written, therefore I will edit
Too much talkiness
Getting over overwriting